The Reformed Smoker Challenge

On Wednesday, December 27, 2017 at 4:51:33 PM UTC-8, wrote:
By a few... you mean once? And it only took 63 years of dedicated discipleship for it to happen!

Twice.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2....Id=-1819677200
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2....htId=274069465

These pilots must have had to stand up for the entire flight!

Its more a game of how much bruising you can take from being banged around severely running those ridges.

As for thermal based xc in a 1-26, someone, someday, is going to put all the pieces together and put up a 500 miler. Running a frontal boundary on a long summer day can make it happen.

Dan

It's been done more than a few times....

Anyone going XC in a glider is something to be respected. If you fly a 500k in an Arcus with an up and go you are still the man. You don't need a 1-26 to prove you are a good pilot.
Do the 1-26 pilots feel they don't get enough respect? Come on!! All I have ever heard since starting soaring in 2012 is admiration and damn-near worship of the ship and the pilots that fly them XC...

Dude, L/D makes a difference.
Period.


Yes, a 1000K is a good flight, sorta depending on where you fly from. Some are easier, some are harder.
I pride myself on doing all SSA badges from my home field from solo to 2 diamonds (missing diamond altitude) and looking to finish that and a 1K distance from "home".

No, not all was in a 1-26, most was.......I bow to Ron S. and others, for for that medal........

"All I have ever heard since starting soaring in 2012 is admiration and damn-near worship of the ship and the pilots that fly them XC."

Pete your own words tell the story. Since you are new to the sport you came in within the "glass" age and probably have never had the opportunity to fly a 1-26. If you ever do, and if you jump off the cliff like some of us and try to go xc in one, you will then understand why there is a pretty healthy respect for the guys who do remarkable flights in these little machines.

However, I can't agree with your assumption that making a run in an Arcus is a remarkable achievement. Sure I'd love to take one of those ships for an xc romp, but there is absolutely no correlation between a 500k flight in one of them and even a 500k flight in first generation glass like say a 201 libelle or let alone a 1-26. The skills needed to do that in an old libelle or even older 1-26 are many levels higher than what is needed in todays super ships.

Pete, I sure hope you get a chance to give these little ships a try. You will find the xc challenges are very rewarding and the group of guys that fly them are really great. They freely share the knowledge they have gained over the years and are super helpfull. You will not run into any semblance of snobbery whatsoever among their ranks.
Dan

On Friday, December 29, 2017 at 4:12:33 PM UTC-8, wrote:
"All I have ever heard since starting soaring in 2012 is admiration and damn-near worship of the ship and the pilots that fly them XC."

Pete your own words tell the story. Since you are new to the sport you came in within the "glass" age and probably have never had the opportunity to fly a 1-26. If you ever do, and if you jump off the cliff like some of us and try to go xc in one, you will then understand why there is a pretty healthy respect for the guys who do remarkable flights in these little machines.

However, I can't agree with your assumption that making a run in an Arcus is a remarkable achievement. Sure I'd love to take one of those ships for an xc romp, but there is absolutely no correlation between a 500k flight in one of them and even a 500k flight in first generation glass like say a 201 libelle or let alone a 1-26. The skills needed to do that in an old libelle or even older 1-26 are many levels higher than what is needed in todays super ships.

Pete, I sure hope you get a chance to give these little ships a try. You will find the xc challenges are very rewarding and the group of guys that fly them are really great. They freely share the knowledge they have gained over the years and are super helpfull. You will not run into any semblance of snobbery whatsoever among their ranks.
Dan

The challenge (with an intended joke of a name) is not about 1-26s, 2-33s, PW-5s or even OS/X high sierra. It's more about:
I'd sometimes be met on landing the ASH26E by a friend carrying two cold beers. He'd check the temperature of the engine bay doors before handing one over, and rightly so!
May the Schwartz be with you,
Jim